I want to upgrade to Windows 7 on my laptop. I need the professional version, so I'll have to do a full install of windows. But, I have some important programs on my laptop that I want to make sure I keep for the future... Adobe's CS4 full suite being the most important of them all.

The problem I have is that I don't have the means to re-install on a new computer. It's not pirated software, so it's not an honesty issue. Well.. mostly... it was available to my wife from her old employer. They didn't ask us to uninstall it after she resigned, so it's clearly not a big deal. However, I don't think I could re-install and still have access to the keycode for it.

So how do I pull the program off this computer so that I can do a custom install of windows 7 and then be able to re-install it later?

Try this: http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

And try the built in Windows software called "Windows Easy Transfer".

Yeah, you just need to find the registry entry for CS4 and it'll contain the key. If you're familiar with browsing registry entries you should be able to just find it manually. Go Start>Run and type "regedit" to open the registry editor. BE CAREFUL not to delete or edit anything, or you could screw things up in a very bad way.The key you're looking for will probably be somewhere like [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]\SOFTWARE\Adobe\(then one or two more folders/levels) and there will probably be an entry in there called ProductCode which will be your product key. If you can't find it manually, try the software Paul posted.

And yes, Windows Easy Transfer is awesome. You can use it to back up program settings and even your media library if you want (though it'll be a big file and will take a while to archive and unarchive). I used it to transfer my itunes library and entire "my documents" contents plus gamesaves to a FRESH install of Win7. You'll have to download it (free) for Vista but it's built into Win7.If you have multiple hard drives (physical, not just partitions) on your computer, or an external hard drive, I highly suggest backing up as much as possible to the secondary (non-windows, not being formatted) drive using Easy Transfer. It'll be a huge file but will still speed things up A LOT and once windows is installed you'll be able to just tell it to restore those items and you'll be golden. In fact it simplifies things so much I'd even suggest buying a cheap external hard drive for this alone if you don't have a secondary hard drive to use.

Thanks guys!

I was able to use one of the registry tracking programs to find the code.

I didn't really have anything else on the computer that I felt like I needed to keep, so I didn't use the windows transfer program. It was a computer I used for business, so I didn't have any games or music or many files. I just pulled those few things onto a thumbnail and I was all set.

One thing that happened that I'm unhappy about was that Win7 professional loaded automatically in the 32 bit version. I would have chosen 64 bit if I'd had the choice. I was told that I would have the choice, but it just ran itself and never gave me any option. Oh well.. it's not the fastest laptop, so probably the 32 bit is best anyway.

I was very surprised about how quick the process took.. probably 30 minutes.. maybe it was 45.

When I did the "upgrade" on my desktop, it took hours.

I love the home networking features of Win 7. The interface is nice as well. It does seem faster as well.

You are supposed to get to choose 32 or 64 as long as you're doing a clean install UNLESS you're using one of the discs sent out in the free upgrade program that ran last summer and fall (get a free copy of Win7 with a Vista PC) since those discs only come with the version that matches the Vista version they came with (I got a 64-bit-only disc).

The 64bit architecture should be faster, if your processor supports that instruction set. I recommend you rebuild with 64bit if it's not too late. Also, you should make an install USB stick. You think 45 minutes is fast? From a USB stick it'll take between 10 and 15 minutes. Hard core